Scandal - S4E3 - Inside the Bubble
Previously on Scandal, ‘The State of the Union’
In the Bubble and in Trouble
Lizzie Bear has to ease the fears of a gun lobbyist outside of their kids’ school. He wants to know why their Republican president is tripping. She assures him she has it all under control; the gun control appeal they filed in the most conservative circuit will work. Meanwhile, Cyrus runs into Michael at a restaurant and is surprised that whoring isn’t his life. Michael is in business school and would appreciate it if Cyrus made himself scarce when his classmates arrived.
David’s high on life because Fitz has placed a lot of faith in him to argue for the gun control bill in circuit court. They just need to sway one judge’s swing vote their way.
Michael calls Cyrus, flirting and thanking him for not blowing his cover to his friends. Later, Cyrus hooks up with Michael and pays him for his services ($2,500!), and Michael reports in to Lizzie.
David fails. One judge in particular will not agree that the gun bill is constitutional. Fitz doesn’t take the news well. He snaps at David, but immediately apologizes. David walks out with Need to Please all over his face. He heads right to his B613 files to find something on the one holdout judge.
David gets his white hat super dirty by blackmailing the swing vote judge with knowledge that he killed someone while driving drunk. It works, and as David celebrates with Fitz in the Oval Office, Abby is yet again called Gabby and dismissed. David’s celebration is short-lived when he learns the judge killed himself.
Mellie Matlock
When Mellie sees a news report about a bride accused of pushing her husband off of a cliff, she decides to look into the case. She’s so fascinated by the case that she skips going to the cemetery, which has apparently been an everyday thing.
Mellie wants to prove that the Killer Cliff Bride is innocent and asks Abby to have the investigator in charge of the case sent to the White House. Abby tries to express her concerns to Cyrus and Fitz, but both brush her off, the latter telling her to give Mellie whatever she wants.
Mellie’s meeting is a disaster: She has called in the FBI, the case investigator, someone from Agriculture, someone from NASA. Like, Fitz’s whole cabinet. EVERYBODY. She has charts, videos, and graphs. She can prove that the cliff bride didn’t kill her husband. Fitz arrives just as Mellie is humiliated when the investigator is finally is able to talk: Witnesses have already come forward to say the bride is innocent. This is the second most awkward moment of the episode.
Fitz apologizes to Abby for snapping at her when she came to him about Mellie. She tells him he doesn’t owe her an apology about that, but she’d like one because he never remembers her name. He’s properly shamed. It’s a real sweet moment as they sip their scotch. That is until all he wants to do is ask her about Olivia.
By the end of the episode, Mellie is again looking sad and despondent.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Murdering MILF
Olivia stops by her father’s house with coffee, but refuses to go inside. You can’t just stop by an assassin’s house without calling, girl! Even if it is your daddy. They bond over what it’s like to re-enter the real world after going dark. He invites her and Jake over for dinner the next night. At this point I wouldn’t blame Olivia if she checked his forehead for a fever.
Olivia gets a call from Abby and learns that their law school friend, Catherine Winslow, needs Olivia’s helping finding her daughter. When Abby tries to advise Olivia on how to proceed, Olivia shuts it down reminding her that they should stay out of each other’s business. I know that’s right. Ask Quinn what happens when you don’t mindya, Abby.
Olivia calls Jake to cancel their plans for that night, but asks him to dinner at Eli’s the next night. Jake ain’t bout that life, but reminds Olivia that though she’s not his girlfriend, he will accept her call if she wants him to do that thing to her later. Then he knocks out Charlie at a vending machine.
Huck and Quinn manage to track down Caitlin at a fancy hotel and her mom says she’ll go get her daughter. Case closed, right?
Charlie awakens to find Jake standing over him Dexter-style. Torturing won’t be necessary. He will tell Jake everything for one thing: Quinn. When Jake calls Quinn, she at first refuses. Then he reminds her that he took her stray ass in when she had no one so she agrees to be locked in a room with Charlie so they can talk. When she realizes Jake promised Charlie he’d have her ALL NIGHT, she tries to run, but it’s too late. Jake waits outside. Quinn talks shit to Charlie, he tries to attack her, and she takes him down with all that non-B613 training she’s had. *eye-roll* Charlie is like, “You may laugh at the fact that I want you, but it’s true and I’m the only one who does.”
Welp.
Huck appears in Olivia’s bedroom at night, not to watch her sleep cause that would be creepy… even for Huck. He wants Olivia to watch a sex tape… okay, that’s creepy, too. But it’s a video of Catherine having sex with her daughter’s boyfriend. Huck also found a voicemail message where Caitlin threatens her mother with telling the dad and causing her to lose everything. Huck and Olivia rush out when they learn the police were called to the hotel where Caitlin was staying. At the morgue, Catherine is identifying Caitlin’s body. She was shot and killed. When they’re alone, Olivia confronts Catherine who claims she didn’t kill her daughter.
Quinn swears to Charlie that she’s not lonely. Then they start making out, with Quinn looking all thirsty. Jake busts in saying time is up. Charlie has to now spill all he knows.
Abby stops by Olivia’s house to find out what’s going with the investigation into Caitlin’s death. Olivia won’t talk to her about it citing that it would be unethical. Abby brings up the fact that Olivia fixed a national election. Take your talk of ethics elsewhere, Liv. Abby stomps away, reminding Olivia that Catherine is her friend, too, and she can just call her directly. Well, not sure why she didn’t do that to begin with, but okay.
Karma’s a bitch, tho. Olivia shows up at Jake’s hotel room and he won’t let her in. Won’t even take the chain off the door. He’s busy working. She’s like, “But you ain’t got no job!” After dismissing the idea that he has a woman in there, Olivia dumps Jake.
Catherine admits to the affair, but insists she didn’t kill her daughter. Next thing you know, Huck and Olivia are looking into other suspects. Olivia took her word for it mighty quickly. When Quinn comes bopping in after being missing, she’s butthurt that neither of them even noticed she was gone.
Jake changes his mind about dinner after he’s gone through all Charlie has told him. He has proof that Eli had Jerry, Harrison, and Adnan killed.
The most awkward moment of the whole episode is this dinner scene at Papa Pope’s. Eli tries to make smalltalk, but Jake is focused on his food. Only when Liv leaves the room to take a call from Huck does Jake have something to say. He tells Eli EVERYTHING he knows. He wants Eli to leave town and leave Olivia alone. Eli threatens him with a knife and promises he’ll be standing over Jake when he dies. Jake doesn’t even flinch. This scene did inspire this hilarious tweet.
Huck found elevator footage of Caitlin struggling with someone over a file at her father’s job. Is this the person who shot her?
By episode’s end, Jake watches Papa Pope head to work so it looks like his threats didn’t work worth a damn.
Thoughts & Questions
- Please give Mellie something to do! I hope this distraction turns into a reminder that she IS a lawyer. I’d love to see Mellie in a courtroom.
- All the B613 files in the world won’t be able to save Cyrus if his whore-boy scandal breaks.
- Speaking of, someone is going to steal those Batfiles, right? David is going to them way too often.
- Huck told Quinn the next time she come up missing, he’ll look for her. Ugh.
- How long before Jake is dead?
- I like that the case against Catherine will be a multi-episode arc.
